


Bilingual

by misbehavingvigilante



Series: Language [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Slight mention of dubious consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-07-16 08:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7259431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misbehavingvigilante/pseuds/misbehavingvigilante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or the one where Jack Morrison understands but doesn't speak Spanish and Gabriel Reyes would have liked to know about this beforehand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bilingual

**Author's Note:**

> First things first, hover over the Spanish for the English translation. 
> 
> Also please note, I'm nowhere near fluent in Spanish, so there's liable to be some mistakes. I just didn't figure this fic could really work without it. 
> 
> **/Edit/ Thanks to[Chiwibel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiwibel/pseuds/Chiwibel) this has now been updated with corrected Spanish.**
> 
> I love all the fandom stuff about Jack not knowing Spanish or any other language but I couldn't help but want to run with this idea of mine. Because let me tell y'all I'm a sap, there's no chance in hell I'm writing angst for these fuckers when there's fluff.
> 
> Vague timeline is vague, the best I got is this all took place before the Omnic crisis.
> 
> **/Edit/ Thanks to[Tree1138](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tree1138/pseuds/Tree1138) and [bastion](http://archiveofourown.org/users/translators/pseuds/bastion) for pointing out to me hover texts doesn't work on Mobile or certain Operating Systems. I honestly had no idea, so I added the translations at the end notes.**  
>   
>  _This fic now is[available](http://m.weibo.cn/3980985429/3997992476719035?lfid=100015742704629&mid=3997992476719035&luicode=10000001&rid=0_0_8_3063638629375860959&moduleID=feed&_status_id=3997992476719035&fromlog=100015742704629&uicode=10000002&featurecode=10000001) in Chinese._

"Este día es una mierda." Reyes tells him over lunch like it personally offends him. 

In all likelihood, it probably did Jack had been friends with one Gabriel Reyes out of Los Angeles for a while now and in that time, he had learnt of Reyes near legendary dislike of rain. It never failed to sour his mood, so Jack had grown used to checking the clouds to see if Reyes was going to be in a bad mood today or not. 

Jack hadn't even had time to touch his food before someone voiced their unwanted opinion. "Why are you always speaking Spanish?" 

"¿Por qué siempre hablas Inglés?" Reyes shot back, crossing his arms and sharpening a glare towards the offending person. 

Jack could have told them that was going to happen, and the solider in question just had a look of further confusion turning to him. "What did he say?" 

"Por favor." Reyes said in a drawn out but faintly amused tone. "Él tampoco habla español." 

Well, that wasn't entirely true. But Jack hadn't really gotten around to telling Reyes that yet. He'd been meaning to, but for one reason or another it just hadn't happened yet.

Jack shrugged in a delayed response to the solider who just seemed to give up on any sort of answer and went to sit with presumably some friends of his. 

Now Reyes was even further annoyed, though. A faint scowl on his full lips, and his eyebrows narrowed. So Jack decided to try and cheer him up. "I like it when you speak Spanish." 

That replaced annoyance with what looked eerily similar to fondness. Huh. "Shut up, Morrison." 

Jack complied, taking this chance to get to eat his by now lukewarm food.

 

 

 

Jack liked to spend a lot of his off time with Reyes. It wasn't that he didn't have other friends and didn't like spending time with them, but he couldn't deny he liked it when it was just the two of them.

Reyes wasn't always so sociable, so he didn't always go along when Jack asked him to but Jack had found out a more or less surefire way to assure his company.

Play up the farm boy angle who knows nothing about where to eat in a city which wasn't really a lie, Jack had never spent much time in any city growing up but it didn't mean he was utterly helpless, and Reyes would without a doubt not only recommend a place, but would come with him. 

"What would you do without me?" Reyes asked, as they walked to their destination. Which in Reyes' own words was an authentic Spanish restaurant instead of the faux mass produced shit. 

Jack gave a bright smile happy that Reyes hadn't gotten wise to his trick. "Starve, I guess." 

Reyes rolled his eyes, and grumbled something under his breath in hurried Spanish he couldn't make out but the last part. "...como el sol." 

That must have been an idiom of some sort, since the clouds from the other day had yet to full go away and it was night, so Jack couldn't see how Reyes would be remarking on the weather.

The restaurant was homey with it's low lighted atmosphere and the proximity the chairs and booths had to one another that instead of seeming cramped gave off the impression it was just as easy to make conservation with your neighbor as it was with the people you had gone with.  Not that there were too many people here, though, it was a weekday, and towards closing time from what Jack had briefly gathered from the door's sign on the way in.

The waitress had introduced herself in a mix of Spanish and English that amounted to about the same thing it would in just about any restaurant. 

Reyes had naturally ordered his drink in Spanish as Jack had continued in English. 

There wasn't much conservation thereafter as they both seemed to look over the menu and the waitress had shortly returned afterwards with their drink. And asked for their order. 

It was probably a bad sign that Jack enjoyed listening to Reyes speak Spanish so much that even him ordering food wasn't boring, but he hadn't been lying the other day when he had said it. He enjoyed the way Reyes could roll his Rs, and how fluid it sounded coming off his lips. Then again, Jack couldn't say he didn't like how Reyes spoke in English either, that same gruff tone-

"Jack." Reyes' - no, Gabriel's words reached him immediately from his straying thoughts because they rarely addressed each other using their first names. 

"Yeah?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes at him. "She needs your order." 

It took Jack a moment to process that, and when he did he flushed deeply. "I'm so sorry." He said earnestly, eyeing the waitress as he said so to show that he was being sincere. She gave him a small smile, and he proceeded to order. 

Taking a deep breathe after she left again and putting his hands over his face. "I'm such an idiot." 

"Yeah, you are Morrison." Reyes agreed, before switching languages. "También estás muy rojo."

That only served to make Jack blush worse, but at least Reyes couldn't find that suspicious because he couldn't deal with the fallout of him learning he knew Spanish now. 

Thankfully the rest of their meal went on without a hitch. Although Reyes didn't call him Jack again. 

 

 

 

"Tu novio está aquí."

It's one of Reyes' friends he's not actually that close with who said it as they were leaving Reyes' quarters, so they don't see Jack's look of confusion or blush. 

Maybe they were joking or something? 

Reyes does come to the door looking grumpy, but then suspicious because he does see them. "Why are you blushing?" 

"I was remembering the other week...?" Jack tried, he had never been the best liar. And it wasn't exactly a lie, either, he had looked back on the dinner he and Reyes had with nothing but embarrassment since then for spacing out like that. It just wasn't why he had been blushing now. 

There's a narrowing of Reyes' beautiful eyes which probably isn't the best thing to think right now, but they are standing close together, but he said nothing before disappearing into his room. Jack took that as a sign to follow him in. 

"What did you want, Morrison?" 

That was a good question, what did he want again? Well, that was probably not the best question to ask himself right now. Though, Jack did need to remember why he went to see Reyes in the first place. 

"I was going to let you know my leave got rejected." Jack finally remembered. He had earlier told Reyes that he was going to be visiting his family back in Indiana, but towards the last minute it had been denied.

"Ah." Reyes looked sympathetic. "It happens. You want to do something?" 

Jack had wanted to do something but after the earlier slip up, he revisited that decision of his. "Ah, no. I think I rather just take an early night. I'll see you tomorrow, Reyes." He didn't wait for a response before he went out the door. 

Not even hearing the reply Reyes had given him because of it. 

 

 

 

He's not really avoiding Reyes, he would never - okay, maybe he would.  

It's a lot easier than Jack would have thought to avoid Reyes, which gives him the thought of just how easy it would have been for them to have never become or stayed friends in the first place. 

Jack feels ashamed of himself, but he's just trying to figure out how to salvage his friendship with Reyes when the bombshell hits that he's more or less known what Reyes has been saying this entire time, just giving him the illusion of otherwise. It feels like an intrusion of privacy, or it's something not exactly good to do to a friend in basest terms. 

The problem is not two days pass of narrowly escaping Reyes before he's caught. Jack really underestimated how many times he usually sees Reyes in a day, and one can only be in a hyper vigilant state so long before the body can't keep it up.

"What the hell is going on with you?" Reyes demanded, cutting him off from the exit in the narrow hallway with ease when Jack had so much as glanced that way. 

Jack gave a tight smile. "Nothing. I've just-" 

"Estoy enamorado de ti."

His eyes widen at the response, and if Jack has to guess he's turning red, too. But there's no way he could have hidden a reaction from that. 

"I knew it." Reyes said, seeming a lot less angry than he had just moments ago. "You understand me." 

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but he doesn't know what to say. He's conflicted on how to act with that phrase hanging over him. Did Reyes just tell him something he thought was shocking to get him to react? Or was he actually telling the truth?

Either way, that could come later. He owed Reyes an apology. "Sorry. I should have told you before." 

"You think? You let me believe you just had some language kink." 

If it was possible to blush anymore, Jack accomplished it. 

Reyes raised an eyebrow. "You do have a language kink. Interesting, but not what I want to know. Why didn't you tell me?" 

"You asked if I spoke Spanish, not if I understood it." 

"...You really are going to use a technicality to defend yourself?" Reyes narrowed his eyes, appearing to gain back some of his anger that he had lost. 

"You didn't give me enough time to think of a better excuse before you hunted me down." Jack offered, as he might have felt a little bit like prey right now with the whole blocked exit, and the promised wrath of Reyes in front of him. There was really nowhere to move but back, but that would only have him against a wall which wasn't conductive to an escape but neither was the idea of rushing Reyes who had might not have really had height on him, but did have him beat on weight. 

It was the main difference in their builds, Reyes was bulkier than him, so it made Jack look a little wiry in comparison. 

It might have been an equal match if he was fed, but Jack had spent the last two days eating food he'd squirreled away before this happened and what he could steal off of his friends, so he wasn't exactly at his best right now. 

Reyes rolled his eyes. "Please, this is not me hunting you down. If I wanted to, I would slam you against that wall, keep you in place and do what I've been thinking about weeks."

That should not be a turn on and yet... "What have you been thinking about doing to me?" 

"Tú quieres esto."

"I really do." It seemed counterproductive to lie when he'd already angered Reyes so much. They could both use some honesty. "Did you mean what you said earlier?" 

In a way, Jack gets an answer when Re- Gabriel comes through on his promise and pushes him against the wall. Roughly, Jack should add as there's a faint sensation of soreness running through his body but it's quickly fading at the press of Gabriel's lips to his own. The thrill of this actually happening amplifies the pleasure, and the risk of being found out isn't as much of a determent as Jack thought it would be. 

 

 

 

Thankfully they get to have some alone time that night off base. 

It's a little different than all the other times they've shared a meal together, when Jack can still feel the effects of what they did earlier. Gabriel was a biter but thankfully didn't mark him anywhere that couldn't be hidden under uniform.

"So... what are we?" 

"How did you learn Spanish first?" Gabriel insisted because of course he did. Jack wouldn't imagine that was more important than putting a label on what they were after sex, and a possible love confession but then again, he had technically lied to him for some time. 

"I had neighbors that spoke Spanish. Particularly their many children that spoke to me in nothing but Spanish for years." Said children's parents had tried to break them of that habit of theirs but it had never stuck. In the end, Jack was grateful for it because it meant he ended up learning a fair share of another language. His school foreign language programs had been less than ideal because they'd been such a small town it had been figured the funds could have been spent elsewhere. 

Gabriel seemed to accept that without issue. "¿Por qué no hablas español, entonces?"

"My pronunciation is really off. Most of the time people don't understand me." 

"It can't be that bad." 

"Gabriel-" 

"Say something." Gabriel demanded, and Jack knew him well enough that arguing with him now would be point and likely just provoke a fight. He really didn't want to fight anymore even if the last one they had ended rather well. 

Jack sighed, knowing whatever he said was likely to be laughed off with how he said it. So he might as well make it count. "Quieres ser mi novio?" 

Gabriel was silent for a moment before laughing very boisterously. It attracted attention from the other patrons of the restaurant and Jack looked down. He certainly hoped the laughter was just from his horrible butchering of the language rather than what he asked. 

It might have been presumptuous of him to think just because there was sexual attraction between them both that there had to be a romantic one, as well. 

"You really are horrible at this." Well, at least, Gabriel wasn't telling him anything new there. Maybe Jack would luck out and his question hadn't been heard after all. The very moment Jack so much as glanced towards Gabriel's eyes though he answered his question. "Tú eres mío."

And that was all Gabriel needed to say to clear up his short lived internal crisis. 

 

 

 

"I don't understand why you speak Spanish all the time." 

At first, Jack had been understanding of this line of questioning citing it simply to curiosity or perhaps a lack of oversight to see how maybe it wasn't the best thing to ask, but he's starting to get why it bothers Gabriel when it happened with such frequency. 

"Mi novio le gusta cuando hablo español." Gabriel answered, casting a not so subtle look over to Jack. 

Up until this point, not too much had changed in their relationship. Jack had to remember to call Gabriel by his last name, more than once he'd nearly blurted out Gabriel when he should have said Reyes. But this was... there was nothing that Jack could use nearby to hide his blush, only merely attempt to hide it behind a turn of his head. 

Which it failed to do anything to the person who had asked the question in the first place. "Man, you taught Morrison to understand Spanish, didn't you?" 

"Cómo hablar español si quiere." 

"I thought you said I was horrible at it." Jack said, after the other solider had left, no doubt to tell others about his discovery. 

"You are, but perhaps you could get better." Gabriel said with a shrug, though it came off as nonchalant Jack could tell that Gabriel actually wanted him to try. 

"Okay. But you can't keep laughing at me every time I speak." Jack was not going to put up with that, as much as he liked Gabriel's laugh, he didn't like it quite as much when it was used to laugh at him. "Besides, this might not even work I could still fail at this."

Gabriel broke out into a grin. "C'mon, you'll be sleeping with the teacher, how could you fail?" 

**Author's Note:**

> "Este día es una mierda." - This day is shit.  
> “¿Por qué siempre hablas Inglés?” - Why are you always speaking English?  
> “Por favor." - Please  
> "Él tampoco habla español." - He doesn't speak Spanish, either.  
> "...como el sol." - Like the sun.  
> "También estás muy rojo." - You are very red, also.  
> "Tu novio está aquí." - Your boyfriend is here.  
> "Estoy enamorado de ti." - I'm in love with you.  
> "Tú quieres esto." - You want this.  
> "¿Por qué no hablas español, entonces?" - Why don't you speak Spanish, then?  
> "Quieres ser mi novio?" - Do you want to be my boyfriend?  
> "Tú eres mío." - You are mine.  
> "Mi novio le gusta cuando hablo español." - My boyfriend likes it when I speak Spanish.  
> "Cómo hablar español si quiere." - How to speak Spanish, if he wants.


End file.
